


Zombie Survival 2012

by SodiumCyanide



Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Chatting & Messaging, F/M, Gaming, Humor, MMORPGs, Modern Era, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Possibly Meta, Social Media, Texting, a suspicious lack of angst considering its me, everyone's happy and nothing hurts, i mean they're characters from a game, playing fast and loose with gaming terminology, that are playing a game
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-02
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2019-07-24 00:02:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16169465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SodiumCyanide/pseuds/SodiumCyanide
Summary: // Marlon69 has joined the chatm-b-itch: nicexXx_VioletWay_xXx: seriously?xXx_VioletWay_xXx: that is so immatureKing_Louis: yeah marlon what were you thinking dudeMarlon69: you are both absolutely right im sorry// Marlon69 has changed their screen name to: Marlon420Marlon420: much betterKing_Louis: agreed





	1. Tip #9: Don't leave your base unattended.

**Author's Note:**

> ((this is the most self-indulgent thing i've ever written))  
> please note that this is meant to be straight up humour so take all descriptions of the game with a truckton of salt; the game works like the fic requires it to work alright just putting that out there
> 
> any kind of feedback is appreciated, enjoy n cheers x

The _ericson kidz!!_ -coalition has some problems.

For a good long while they were left pretty much alone in Zombie Survival 2012, but about a month ago another coalition set up base way too close for comfort. Louis doesn’t like _The Delta_ one bit. One, they’re way too serious (c’mon, it’s a silly survival game, not real life and death!). And two, after Minnie and Sophie left the _ericson kidz!!_ and joined _The Delta_ – mostly to spite Vi after her and Minnie’s very messy breakup – _The Delta_ pretty much immediately banned them from their server for being “too immature” or something. Louis doesn’t get them, and they’re ruining what had been a perfectly fun pastime and turned it into a virtual gang war. What’s even more annoying is the fact that some of the players in The Delta seem to have actual money to spend on the game, giving them upgrades like solar panels and undetectability. And that blows. There is nothing more frustrating than clearly seeing multiple icons hovering around an indistinct area in the woods and still not being able to attack them, because _technically_ , they don’t know where they are.

In the beginning, Marlon had tried to talk with them, maybe form an alliance or something. After several minutes of _MainManMarlon_ being away from the chat, he’d returned and promptly changed his screen name to _FuckTheDelta_. That was pretty much the end of their diplomacy.

And now, Louis can clearly see that x _Delta_Abel_ is sneaking around in the forest, probably scouting their base. Or maybe he’s just looking for supplies, but Louis hates that fucker, and does not trust him in the slightest. So, he turns to chat.

 

 ** chat** : ericson kidz!!!-main

King_Louis: dyall c that delta ahole in the forest

King_Louis: ?

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: yeah

m-b-itch: yea

m-b-itch: good think brody isn’t online she’d freak out

King_Louis: what do we do bout it

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: kill him obv

King_Louis: calm down edgelord lemme ask marlon first

 

Louis shoots his friend the blurriest snap ever, updating him on the situation, and waits until Marlon’s icon turns green at their base. Huh. He changed his screen name again.

 

 **Marlon69** _has joined the chat_

m-b-itch: nice

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: seriously?

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: that is so immature

King_Louis: yeah marlon what were you thinking dude

Marlon69: you are both absolutely right im sorry

 **Marlon69** _has changed their screen name to:_ **Marlon420**

Marlon420: much better

King_Louis: agreed

m-b-itch: NICe

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: oh my god

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: you are all such CHILDREN

King_Louis: says the one literally named after mcr you absolute emo

 **xXx_VioletWay_xXx** _has left the chat_

King_Louis: worth it

Marlon420: absolutely

 **xXx_VioletWay_xXx** _has joined the chat_

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: for the record i am ONLY here again because theres th delta assbag situation alright

King_Louis: g note

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: fuck you

m-b-itch: lol

Marlon420: calm down children

Marlon420: we have a delta-dirtbag to hunt

 

But they don’t manage to get that far before the screen shakes and an alert pops up at the bottom right of Louis’ screen. He squints at it – remembering, in that moment, that he doesn’t have his contacts in – and frowns.

  
m-b-ich: wth

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: that was outside our zone right??

Marlon420: yeah

 **BowAndArrow** _has joined the chat_

BowAndArrow: What was that explosion? Does anyone know?

King_Louis: could be delta

King_Louis: btw nice of you to join us aasim…we’ve missed you…..

King_Louis: <3

BowAndArrow: This is why I’m not in the chat more often, Louis.

Marlon420: guys is this really the time?

Marlon420: i’ll check out that explosion, play nice

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: I’ll come with u, it’s uncharted area so

Marlon420: tnx

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: c ya later losers

 **xXx_VioletWay_xXx** _and_ **Marlon420** _have left the chat  
_**xXx_VioletWay_xXx** ‘s _and_ **Marlon420** ‘s _statuses have changed to: exploring_

m-b-itch: gtg for a while too hmu if something cool happens

 **m-b-itch** _has left the chat_

King_Louis: so……aasim…….just you n me here....how you doin my man ;) ?

 **BowAndArrow** _has left the chat_

King_Louis: :(

 

“Well, looks like it’s time for real-life Louis to get some real-life shit done” Louis mutters to himself, and switches his status from _active_ to _resting_. It’ll get his health up, which is handy, while he’s away from the computer. He doesn’t want to log off completely, not when actual shit is happening in the game, but he also doesn’t want his piano teacher on his ass about not practicing. Making sure he has notifications on, Louis swivels away from his computer and to his piano.

Honestly, Louis isn’t a big fan of video games. Most of them are too complicated, too many flashing lights and controls to keep track of, and give him migraines. But Zombie Survival 2012 is straight-forward and simple, and it satisfies his weird need of collecting and subsequently earning rewards and upgrades. That, in combination with the multiplayer aspect, has made it his favourite past-time besides theatre and piano for the last year or so. Louis has made some good friends on ZS12; of course, some of them have stopped playing the game (and some, like Minnie and Sophie, have been banned from their current server) but most are still around, like Violet and Aasim – no matter what either of them think.

It was Louis and Marlon that started the _ericson kidz!!-_ coalition, named after their joined place of education. Then, Violet had joined together with her girlfriend Minnie and said girlfriend’s sister, Sophie. The three of them lived in Montana, and so neither Louis nor Marlon had actually met them, but they both still counted Vi as one of their closest, mutual friends, and had regarded the twins much the same before their disappearance.

After that, Brody (who quickly turned into Marlon’s on-off long-distance girlfriend), Omar, Ruby and Aasim had all joined in quick succession. They were the core group, so to speak; there had been people coming and going, and some they had been forced to ban. Or, well, Marlon had been forced to ban; he had been bestowed admin privileges by Louis, back in the day, because frankly Louis could not care less about keeping order in a literal game. Although, neither he nor Violet could escape being made Sub-Admins once their group expanded.

Things had been going well for the _ericson kidz!!;_ Louis had earned enough crafting and +logs and +boulders to be able to craft traps for their base, upping their defence by a hefty +25 points, Omar had taken to grinding the cooking skill and eventually earned the “Chef”-badge – better food made for better stamina and strength, which was great – and Ruby had in turn gotten the “Excellent nurse”-achievement, which made their group’s health go up a lot faster.

Then, of course, the Delta showed up and became a massive pain in the ass. Just thinking about them makes Louis press extra hard on the keys, before Ms. Martin’s voice in his head reminds him to not abuse the poor piano. Right. Gentle fingers. Louis stretches out his wrists and gets to playing.

 

 ** chat:**  ericson kidz!!-admins

 **xXx_VioletWay_xXx** ‘s _and_ **Marlon420** ‘s _statuses have changed to: active_ **  
xXx_VioletWay_xXx** _and_ **Marlon420** _have joined the chat_

Marlon420: lou

Marlon420: louis

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: louis

Marlon420: LOUIS

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: oh my god @King_Louis get over here ffs

Marlon420: @King_Louis dude!!

 

Violent beeping from his computer jerks Louis out of his Chopin-induced fog, and he quickly swivels back to re-join chat.

 

 **King_Louis** ‘s _status has changed to: active_  
**King_Louis** _has joined the chat_

King_Louis: what whats up????? I was @ the piano sry

Marlon420: guess what?

King_Louis: what??????

Marlon420: we have a new recruit BABY

King_Louis: really??

King_Louis: wait so it wasn’t the delta then?

Marlon420: nope

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: well sorta

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: the delta from the woods was close enough 2 the blast 2 get the notif

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: but our ~fancy new member~ fucked him up p badly

King_Louis: not to sound like some country cowboy but yeehaw to that

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: aren’t you from dc

King_Louis: irrelevant

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: yikes anyway we got like +50 food n +20 medicine so

King_Louis: yeehaw pardner!!!

Marlon420: please stop you sound like my dad

Marlon420: ill add our new Friend to both the coalition and to chat alright so be nice

King_Louis: no promises <33


	2. Tip #47: Walkers become increasingly dangerous the longer you leave them be.

** chat ** : ericson kidz!!-main

 **Marlon420 [admin]** _has added_ **sweet-p** _to the coalition ericson kidz!!  
_**Marlon420 [admin]** _has added_ **sweet-p** _to the chat: ericson kidz!!-main_

 **sweet-p** _has joined the chat_

Marlon420: @BowAndArrow @omargod @brooding @sparkling_red_ruby @m-b-itch come say hello to our new recruit!! don’t be shy

 **BowAndArrow** , **m-b-itch** _and_ **sparkling_ruby_red** _have joined the chat_

sparkling_red_ruby: hi @sweet-p! welcome to ericsons! :)

 **brooding** _has joined the chat_

Marlon420: wheres Omar?

BowAndArrow: He’s visiting family in Spain so he’ll be offline for a while.

King_Louis: his loss

King_Louis: anyways, hello @sweet-p, I like your SN and welcome to the best coalition in ZS12 ((obviously))

sweet-p: hello

sweet-p: thanks for letting me join

brooding: hi!! its no problem at all

m-b-itch: hi

m-b-itch: gotta ask what happened out there w the explosion?

sweet-p: was exploring an old train station and my little brother was watching

sweet-p: he really wants to play but he’s not 15 yet so

sweet-p: went to the bathroom, came back, he had triggered all the traps

m-b-itch: oof

sweet-p: yea

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: hey thanks for sharing the supplies,we rly appreciate it

sweet-p: you’re welcome :)

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: so where r u from?u don’t have to answer if you don’t want to

sweet-p: Georgia. what about you?

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: cool. i’m from montana, it sux

King_Louis: im from dc! :D

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: no one asked

King_Louis: why are you always so mean to me vi :(…. I thought we had something..

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: you g-noted me

King_Louis: !!!that was like, an hour ago!!!and in text form!!it doesn’t count!!

Marlon420: kids, kids. I told you to play nice

King_Louis: yes MOM

 

 _sweet-p,_ whoever they are, have some really good stats. Just by hovering over their icon Louis can tell their they have high stamina, endurance and strength, and they have been playing for almost two years. They also have the very rare +baseball-cap equipped, which increases their luck by fifteen points (Louis can’t help but be a little bit jealous of that). The rest of their info is more or less hidden; no bio to speak of and almost no personal information. They do have their pronouns listed, which is helpful – she/her – but except for that, nothing.

Interesting. The _ericson kidz!!_ haven’t had anyone join in a long time, so of course Louis is curious, but he knows from experience he can come off a bit. Well. Strong. Better play it cool.

  
King_Louis: soo @sweet-p you’ve been playing for 2 yrs right?

sweet-p: yea?

King_Louis: how come we haven’t seen you around before?

sweet-p: oh I was on a different server but it shut down

sweet-p: was able to import my save into this one

King_Louis: :O

m-b-itch: smart

Marlon420: hey @BowAndArrow @King_Louis are y’all busy

King_Louis: now who sounds like a cowboy hmm MARLON

King_Louis: but yeah no im not busy

BowAndArrow: Not really, no. Why?

Marlon420: if y’all’re up to it there’s a pack of walkers @ our north base border

King_Louis: o hell yea *knife* *knife* *knife* *gun* *skull* *gun*

BowAndArrow:

King_Louis: when the chat doesn’t support emojis you just gotta make do man

BowAndArrow: Whatever. Anyway, I’m up for it.

Marlon420: great

sweet-p: is it alright if I join?

BowAndArrow: Sure. I don’t mind.

King_Louis: :D of course!!!!!!

sweet-p: :)

Marlon420: alright if all’a’y’all promise to behave I have to get going

King_Louis: now you’re just doing it to mock me

Marlon420: y'all'll'nt've'd's

 **Marlon420** _has left the chat_  
**Marlon420** _‘s status has changed to: offline_

m-b-itch: damn what an outro

King_Louis: wh

King_Louis: what does that even mean

King_Louis: @sparkling_red_ruby help???you’re from alabama you know this stuff right???

 **sparkling_red_ruby** _has left the chat_

King_Louis: D:

 

Still reeling from the absolute raw power of Marlon’s southern upbringing, as well as the cold abandonment of the normally sweet Ruby, Louis creates a temporary chat for him, Aasim and whoever sweet-p is. Usually when they go take deal with walkers they use their headsets, so they don’t have to focus on typing and playing at the same time (killing and hunting and such things are a bit more hands on than chilling at the base). But Louis doesn’t know if sweet-p is comfortable with talking to them yet, so he figures chat is a safer option. If only to ask about the whole headset-thing, anyway.

 

 ** temp.chat ** : zombie murdering party gun emoji

 **King_Louis [s-admin]** _has added_ **BowAndArrow** _and_ **sweet-p** _to the chat: zombie murdering party gun emoji_

 

King_Louis: welcome pardners ready to kill some zambiez?

BowAndArrow: Do I have a choice?

King_Louis: ?? you volunteered my dude I didn’t make you do anything

BowAndArrow: … Anyway. Why are we using chat?

King_Louis: cause idk if @sweet-p can/wants to use a headset n voice chat

King_Louis: see im being CONSIDERATE here Aasim, something you should CONSIDER being more often

sweet-p: I’m fine with voice chat. It’s easier.

King_Louis: alright then voice it is !!

 

Honestly, Louis is a little impressed. When he and Marlon first started playing Zombie Survival 2012 it was only them in the coalition, so they had known each other since literally forever, so talking with him via headset hadn’t been that off-putting. But then Violet, Sophie and Minnie had joined, and suddenly Louis had realized everything that was weird about his voice and his way of speaking and so, it had taken him at least like, a week or two before he agreed to using voice chat.

Once he did there was no problem, of course, because he was cool and awesome, but still. It had taken even him, Louis, with all his charm, to get to that stage. And now sweet-p was jumping into it first chance? Louis supposes she just takes the game seriously – or maybe she doesn’t want to be a liability to the new group – but nonetheless, he’s impressed.

He fumbles around for his headset, finally manages to find it and plug it in, and turns on the mic.

 

“Y’all hear me?”

 _“Too loud and too clear, Louis”_ Aasim replies, slightly distorted, but Louis can still hear just how Done Aasim is with his Shit today. Best not to be _too_ irritating then. Just a little.

Then, silence.

“Hey, uh, sweet pea?” Is it alright to call her that? It feels weird. Louis doesn’t even know this chick yet. Pet names for him usually only comes around like, five minutes into knowing someone. But since it’s her screen name it should be okay, right?

“You there?”

_“…Yeah, I’m here”_

_She has a cute voice,_ Louis thinks, before realizing that okay, that’s _definitely_ weird. (He’s always been weak for altos.)

“Alright! Then I repeat: Y’all ready to kill some zambies?”

Aasim just sighs. Sweet pea laughs on her end of the line.

_“Ready as I’ll ever be”_

Louis makes sure he has his melee weapon equipped (his trusty ol’ upgraded chair leg), and that his health is up, before starting the Encounter. The game switches from 2D to 3D, and to first-person from third-person overview. There are about twenty-thirty Walkers to dispatch, dispersed over two waves, so it’s a good thing they’re three people instead of two.

Sweet pea’s character has the baseball cap on, and uses a blade to fight. She has a very good grip on possible combos and tricks – after all, she’s been playing for two years – and is excellent at first forcing the Walkers to their knees before stabbing them in the neck. It’s a neat combo, but hard to get the timing right on if you aren’t used to it, which she clearly is. Louis would try it if he also had a blade instead of a melee, although he has a feeling he’d mess up and fail and make a fool of himself.

They easily take down wave one of walkers, and as the second wave hits, Louis can’t help but make a victory whoop as he gets a one-hit-kill.

 _“Nice one”_ Sweet pea’s voice comes from his right headphone, and Louis laughs.

“Thanks! Not so bad yourself”

 _“Not so bad?”_ Aasim huffs from Louis’ left. _“She’s taken out more walkers than you, for sure”_

“Shut up, dude” Louis says, teasing. “Or you’ll be next”

Wave two is a bit trickier, as the walkers clump together more and are generally faster, but they do fine. They have one or two tight spots – one where Aasim is surrounded on three sides and one when Louis game decides to lag – but eventually they kill the last walker, and the [Walker Pack: Eliminated] notif pops up.

“Hell yeah!” Louis half-yells and does a fist-pump to himself. “We did it, y’all!”

 _“Good job, team”_ Aasim says, and it actually sounds like he means it.

 _“This was fun”_ comes Sweet pea’s voice again from Louis’ right. _“I haven’t played co-op for a long time”_

This is his chance, before they end the voice chat. “Hey, so, feels weird calling you sweet pea all the time. D’you have a, uhm, another nickname or something?”

The following pause is a little too long, so Louis hurriedly continues. “I-I don’t mean it in a stalker-y way! Promise! If it makes you feel better, my name’s Louis, but you can call me Lou, whatever”

 _“Yeah, I almost figured”_ Sweet pea sounds more amused than offended, so that's something. Phew. Maybe he didn’t screw up too bad.

 _“And I’m Aasim. So, you don’t have to keep calling me Bow, whenever you need anything”_ Smooth, okay. Aasim has his back on this one.

 _“Alright, I guess that’s nice”_ Pause. _“Then… call me Clem”_

Clem. Probably short for something. And very cute. Louis finds himself smiling even wider as he makes to exit the encounter fully and close the chat.

“So, guys, this has been fun and all, but I think it’s time we end it here. Let’s do this again sometime, yeah?”

 _“Yeah”_  Sweet pea- no, Clem, replies. _“Let’s”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope it's clear but unless it isn't:  
> m-b-itch: mitch  
> bowandarrow: aasim  
> brooding: brody  
> sweet-p: clementine
> 
> tenn, willy, and aj are all under 15 so they aren't allowed to play (cause lets be real no kid should really have to deal with the things they deal with in the game)


	3. Tip #50: You can only store twenty items at a time in your inventory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the wait, i have been Very Sick these last few days so this is a bit short  
> anyway, please enjoy! x

** chat ** : ericson kidz!!-main

Marlon420: alright kids there’s an… issue

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: that’s not ominous at all

sparkling_red_ruby: what issue? what’s wrong?

Marlon420: brody’s account got deactivated

King_Louis: what??????

BowAndArrow: Accidentally, I hope?

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: brody would never fuck up that badly

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: she was too paranoid of losing progress

Marlon420: yes accidentally, you all know the game’s been crashing a lot lately/been buggy

Marlon420: so when she started the game she got kicked out of the server

Marlon420: she’s trying to get it back as we speak it’s a whole fucking mess

 

Honestly, Louis really feels for Brody. She’s sweet, and probably the most ambitious out of all of them with achievements and collectibles. He really hopes her account isn’t gone forever; she’d be devastated.

About a week has passed since Clem – sweet-p – joined their little gang, and Louis has already caught feelings. Which is weird and probably very creepy and he wouldn’t dream of telling anyone (which makes it sound like he’s, what, six?), but Clem is just so cool. Never mind her gaming skills (although those are awesome), but she also seems really smart and funny and she doesn’t leave the chat like almost everyone else does after he tells a bad (aka good) pun. Through just a little bit of needling, Louis has figured out that she’s just turned seventeen, that she sings and plays guitar (!!!!!!!), and that she’s into physics and math. Frankly, Louis doesn’t care for either of those things, but he’s Very Impressed and just possibly a bit smitten.

And whenever they talk using mics instead of chat, Louis’ stomach does some flips he’d prefer not to overanalyse.

In any case he’s just interested in her and her life not just because he might have a teensy lil’ crush, but because she seems like such a genuinely cool person. So far, she hasn’t opened up a lot which, okay, is understandable (and Louis doesn’t want to push her, obviously), so. Baby steps.

Returning to the chat, it seems like Mitch and Clem have both joined after Marlon notified them of the situation. And Mitch, ever so eloquent and great with words, easily sums up pretty much everyone’s emotions on the issue at hand.

 

m-b-itch: yikes

 

Truly a poet in the making.

 

sparkling_ruby_red: oh poor brody :( is she with you marlon?

Marlon420: she’s on the phone w me yeah

Marlon420: n all of you know how she is

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: guess she’s freaking a bit

Marlon420: yup

sweet-p: I hope it gets fixed

sweet-p: I also had my account deactivated once, but I got it back

Marlon420: really? I’ll tell her

Marlon420: thanks

sweet-p: no problem :) although it was a bit of a hassle, had to contact a bunch of people in support

Marlon420: still, good 2 know

Marlon420: anyway while we’re all waiting we might as well get some shit done scope out the delta maybe get the greenhouse back HMM LOUIS

King_Louis: hey!!!! it wasn’t my fault we lost it

Marlon420: I spent like +100 points on that greenhouse. take it back or you’ll be the next to be deactivated.

Marlon420: be back in a minute, trying to help brody. don’t fuck everything up while I’m gone please.

 **Marlon420** _‘s status has changed to: resting_

King_Louis: jeez louise alright ill do it

sweet-p: hey is the chat lagging for someone else or is it just me?

BowAndArrow: My whole game is. Might just be my connection, but no, it’s not just you.

sweet-p: I’ll go see if my router is overheated brb

 

Huh. As Louis tries to move the camera, he notices the frame rate dropping drastically. That… doesn’t usually happen. He has a pretty solid connection, and a decent computer, plus it’s not like ZS12 is a particularly taxing game to play. Weird.

 

King_Louis: im also having issues

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: when aren’t you

King_Louis: oof good burn vi ((sarcasm))

 

The message takes forever to send, and just as it does, Louis’ whole screen freezes. Uh oh. This is bad. Very Bad. Absolutely Not Good. He doesn’t want to shut down his system in case it glitches completely and deactivates his account, like what happened to Brody, but it’s not like he has any other options. God, he wishes he’d saved more often.

Louis decides to wait like, a minute to see if the issue resolves itself, and gets up to make some tea.

When he comes back the game is back online, there’s a Story Notification on the screen, and Louis almost drops his mug.

 

 _[As_ Marlon420 _is resting in the _ericson kidz!!-base _,_ sweet-p _sneaks up on them and shoots them in the head. Marlon420 dies immediately._

**Marlon420 _was just terminated by:_ sweet-p!**

_All items in their inventory have been transferred to sub-admin (1): King_Louis.]_

_> [Click HERE to share Marlon420 ‘s gruesome death on Facebook!]_

 

WHAT.

 

King_Louis: whHAT THE HELL

sweet-p: fgDF H7VNMJk

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: WHAT IS GOING ON.

Marlon420: wTF??!???WHY DID YOU SHOOT ME

BowAndArrow: Oh. This will be fun.

Marlon420: ???????AASIM WHAT THE FUck

sparkling_red_ruby: wait, marlon are you permanently dead then?!

Marlon420: fuck if I know?guess I’ll respawn later or something but more importantly @sweet-p WHY DID YOU SHOOT ME

sweet-p: tr3k  ..-o**

Marlon420: ??????????????????? answers pelase?????

m-b-itch: holy fuckc I can’t stop laughing

King_Louis: hey @sweet-p you okay there??? if youre having a stroke or smth we can deal wit this absolute betrayal later

King_Louis: wait

King_Louis: YOURE NOT A,,DELTA SPY ARE YOU

sweet-p: NO for fucks sake

sweet-p: it was an accident

Marlon420: how do you accidentally SHOOT SOMEONE

sweet-p: it wasn’t real! it’s a game!

Marlon420: STILL

Marlon420: istg if I lose progress because of this I can and will ban you

sweet-p: I’m sorry! I’ll explain

Marlon420: please do

BowAndArrow: The plot thickens.

sweet-p: it was my brother okay, I went to check the router and I guess he started messing with the game while I was away

sweet-p: he knows all the controls he’s seen me play so I suppose he

swee-p: well

sweet-p: shot you

sweet-p: or at least used that command, I don’t think he meant to shoot you specifically

sweet-p: and then as it all glitched the action must’ve carried out anyway

Marlon420: …

King_Louis: I mean its plausible….. right ?

m-b-itch: either way this is hilarious kudos to yr brother @sweet-p

Marlon420: dude

Marlon420: he killed me??

m-b-itch: exactly

 **_[_ ** **m-b-itch _has been banned from the chat for:_** _being an asshole **]**_

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: huh. seems you still remained admin tho

Marlon420: yeah thank god for that

Marlon420: hold on I have a popup

King_Louis: keep us posted dude

sparkling_red_ruby: this is so bad :(

Marlon420: okay so, my character is permanently fucking dead and I can’t get it back

Marlon420: I have to start over with no goddamn progress stats nothing next time I log in, oh, and I almost forgot! won’t even be admin anymore so that’s just great

Marlon420: at least it didn’t delete my account just my character but FUCK how do I fix this????

sweet-p: I’m sorry! I’ll make it up to you!

 **Marlon420** _has left the chat_

King_Louis: oh boy

BowAndArrow: Oh well, now that you have Marlon’s bow you’ll at least be semi more useful while hunting.

King_Louis: dude

 **brooding** _has joined the chat_

brooding: hey guys!!! I was able to log in again what’s going on? marlon hung up suddenly is everything ok? I cant see earlier chat msgs so

BowAndArrow: Everything’s fine, don’t worry.

brooding: oh good :)

BowAndArrow: Except @sweet-p’s brother has “accidentally” terminated Marlon’s character for good, everyone’s freaking out about it, and Mitch is banned from chat for an indefinite amount of time.

brooding: ???????????????????

BowAndArrow: Welcome back, Brodes.


	4. Tip #2: Having a strong bond with your team-mates increases your chances of survival.

_[Because of_ **Marlon420** _‘s untimely death,_ **King_Louis** _has taken over the badge of *Leader of the ericson kidz!!-coalition, and has subsequently been made [admin]]_

_[_ **King_Louis** _has stepped down from his position as *Leader and awarded the badge to_ **xXx_VioletWay_xXx** _]_

_[_ **xXx_VioletWay_xXx** _has been made *Leader and [admin] of the ericson kidz!!-coalition]_

 

 

**chat:** ericson kidz!!-admins  


xXx_VioletWay_xXx: dude

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: whyd you make me admin?

King_Louis: I cannot handle the burden of leadership, vi……I am destined for other, greater, things

King_Louis: therefore, I have bestowed this ((metaphorical)) mantle upon you; my friend and previous second, now first, in command,

King_Louis: I know you will wear it with pride and guide us all with a just and fair hand,,

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: you know you just gave me the ultimate power of banning you

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: like, forever

King_Louis: D: you wouldn’t

King_Louis: you like me to much ehehe

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: dream on

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: also I don’t trust you in control of anything, including and especially yourself

King_Louis: yeowch

King_Louis: but yea thats fair

King_Louis: when ((if)) marlon comes back will u give him back admin ?

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: I mean I guess so

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: else he’d probably punch through another wall or smth

King_Louis: vi, cmon

King_Louis: that’s too far

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: yeah sorry, didn’t mean it

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: look I gtg, ttyl

King_Louis: art class ?

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: yea

King_Louis: punch a canvas for me

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: always do

King_Louis: <33

**xXx_VioletWay_xXx** _has left the chat_  
**xXx_VioletWay_xXx** _‘s status has changed to: offline_

 

 

Pretty much at the exact same moment that Louis computer stops whirring and shuts down, there’s a knock on his door.

“Yeah?”

“Louis, sweetie” comes the slightly muffled reply from the other side of the door. “Dinner will be ready in five minutes”

“Alright! Thanks, auntie” he calls back, slipping his headphones over his head and stretching his arms out. Honestly, he needs to get out more. Sitting in front of a game all day isn’t healthy. He should probably, like, look into jogging or yoga or something. Clear his mind, strengthen his body, that kind of stuff.

Will he, though? Probably not.

Louis gets up (wincing as his spine pops) and, since he knows that _dinner is ready in five minutes_ actually is code for _come set the table_ , sets out to be a contributing member of society. Or at least, the family.

 

 

It takes a few rings before Marlon picks up.

_“Hey”_

“Hey, dude” Louis says, sprawling on the sofa with Netflix on mute, dishwasher going in the background. “How are you?”

_“… better”_ Marlon mumbles. _“I know you’ll ask, so no, I didn’t punch through a wall this time”_

“Hey! Good on you, my guy!”

_“Sure”_

“Look” Louis sighs, “You don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine, but as always… I’m here if you need me”

_“Thanks, Lou”_ Marlon says in that awful, quiet voice that means he’s beating himself up.

Louis hates that voice.

So, he does what he does best.

“Alright, so, I’m about hallway through season three of Brooklyn Nine-Nine – episode nine, _The Swedes_. Wanna watch it with me?”

_“Netflix and chill, huh, Louis? That’s saucy, even for you”_

The Awful Voice is receding on the other end of the line, making way for Marlon-Being-His-Usual-Southern-Self. Progress! (Complete Success still pending, though.)

“You know it babe. Just don’t tell Brody”

Marlon laughs. _“Gross. Alright, just a minute”_

On screen, Sören and Agneta have just arrived. Louis puts his phone on speaker, and un-mutes the TV.

 

 

A few days later and Marlon still hasn’t returned online. Not that Louis has been online much either; he’s been busying himself with practicing piano and actually going outside and not thinking about his parents (and maybe thinking about Clem instead).

It’s been a rough week. In a lot of ways.

But Louis, being Louis, is not just an expert at procrastinating the things he needs to do, he’s also excellent at pushing away and ignoring his feelings. Who needs healthy coping mechanisms when you can just play Haydn for two hours non-stop?

… okay, maybe he’s not great at this whole “self-care thing”. But honestly – he’s fine. Mostly.

It’s better, living with his aunt. Even if she’s pestering him about uni and college and stuff pretty much all the time. At least she cares enough about him to, y’know, do that.

Speaking of.

“Louis?” Grace says, softly, from the doorway. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine” Louis replies, looking up from his papers (music theory! learning! its fun!). “What’s up?”

“I’m- I’m meeting someone tonight. For dinner. Just so you know” She smiles, and Louis notices that she’s wearing high heels. “You can order something, if you’d like. I’ll be back around midnight”

“Alright” Louis smiles back, trying not to feel like a kid left with pizza money. “Have fun”

“You too, sweetie”

As soon as he hears the front door slam shut, Louis groans, and flops down on his back from where he’s sitting on his bed (loose papers flying everywhere).

He’s grateful, of course he is. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that.

 

 

** chat: ** ericson kidz!!-admins

**King_Louis** _‘s status has changed to: online_  
**King_Louis** _has joined the chat_  


xXx_VioletWay_xXx: wow, back from the dead I see.

King_Louis: VERY funny vi

King_Louis: you should be a comedian

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: I know

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: so where you been? we were going to clear out the greenhouse n expand the zone why’d you disappear on us

King_Louis: idk things’ve been....weird

King_Louis: I guess you could say “”bad”” but also not really because nothing’s really wrong yknow

King_Louis: just…………………….ehhhhhh

King_Louis: who cares tbh I’ll go join yall on clearing the greenhouse in a sec

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: Louis.

King_Louis: uh oh

King_Louis: you’re using Punctuation that’s never good

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: I don’t want to say “are you feeling ok” because clearly you’re not but

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: you wanna talk about it?

King_Louis: …. not really

King_Louis: nothing to say

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: you sure?

King_Louis: yeah

King_Louis: actually no

King_Louis: I’ve been thinking abt my parents a lot idk its been abt a year since I moved in with my aunt now? nd I feel like on one hand im being a pain in the ass ((like you always make sure to tell me)) and on the other I feel like she’s treating me like a kid and yknow

King_Louis: im not

King_Louis: its frustrating nd I feel like even more of a spoiled brat but eeh idk

King_Louis: theres other stuff too but

King_Louis: this is really stupid sorry for word vomiting all over you vi

King_Louis: haha

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: louis

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: you know I don’t do deep talks and shit a lot right

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: so like, take this seriously

King_Louis: okay

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: you’ve got to stop being so hard on yourself dude

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: you’ve been through some shit and ofc you’re gonna /feel/ shit about it

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: and you can also be grateful to your aunt which I know you are and at the same time not feel perfect all the time

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: it’s okay

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: you’re human, lou. humans have emotions and yeah, those are shit sometimes but they come with the package deal. they’re real and kinda fuckign suck but you feel them and that’s that

 xXx_VioletWay_xXx: but like I said I don’t really talk like this so I don’t know if this helps but

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: if not then I guess ill just have to fly to DC and punch you in the face or something

King_Louis: please do, it’d be an honor

King_Louis: but seriously, thanks vi

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: you’re welcome dumbass

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: <3

King_Louis: <3

King_Louis: ngl i may or may not be cryingn just a little bit

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: good

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: crying is metal as fuck

King_Louis: hellll yea *gun* *gun* *teardrop* *gun*

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: glad to have you back tho

King_Louis: glad to be back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the extremely long wait but gues who was Depresed TM, had uni, lost their cat and drifted from the fandom for weeks? haha :-)  
> but im back hopefully so sorry for the short chapter but im getting back in the groove after ep 3  
> also: 1. ive changed around some things obvs now that we know louis/vis backstories so they're not going to be the same as in canon and 2. this chapter was all about ~~friendship~~ but next chapter will be more of the gang and of clouis hopefully  
> stay tuned and thanks for reading<3
> 
> and another thing: im very sorry i didn't reply to any comments on the last chapter, i really wasn't feeling great around that time and then it was kinda too late :( but thank you all who've commented x


	5. Tip #13: Walkers are more dangerous in groups.

 

 ** chat: ** ericson kidz!!-main

 **omargod** _‘s status has changed to: online _  
**omargod** _has joined the chat_

omargod: hey guys :)

King_Louis: :D!!!!!!!!!!

King_Louis: welcome back!!!!!

BowAndArrow: Good to see you, dude. How was Spain?

sparkling_red_ruby: Welcome back!! we’ve missed you ^^

omargod: thanks! it’s good to be home

omargod: _@BowAndArrow_ spain was great, thanks for asking. we went to Alicante

omargod: my grandparents are actual fossils without computer(s), so I’ve only had wifi in some public places. sorry for disappearing on you all

brooding: don’t apologize! I’m so jealous, I want to go to Spain too :(

omargod: anything exciting happen while I was gone?

King_Louis: uhhhhh well yeah sorta

omargod: care to elaborate?

King_Louis: weeeell marlon got shot brody almost lost her save forever the delta have been fuckign around ((but I guess that’s not new)) and we have a new FRIEND!!

omargod: marlon got shot?!

King_Louis: ….by our new FRIEND!s brother yeah

omargod: uh

omargod: alright

omargod: is he coming back?

brooding: he’s been sulking but working on building his character again so he should be back soon

omargod: oh. good.

omargod: and who’s the new friend?

BowAndArrow: She’s not online right now, but it’s _@sweet-p_.

King_Louis: she’s awesome!!!!!!you’ll like her :D

omargod: will I now

omargod: seems like you like her anyway huh louis

BowAndArrow: That’s true. He hasn’t shut up about her since she joined, basically.

King_Louis: ???????????yes I have???

BowAndArrow: I can *hear* you thinking about her and you live across the country from me.

BowAndArrow: You’re not exactly subtle, Louis.

brooding: aww, Lou! :) that’s so cute!

King_Louis: hhhhhhhhhhhhh h shut the up

King_Louis: you guys suck

King_Louis: i hate you all and you are NOT invited to my 8th birthday-party

sparkling_red_ruby: ^^

sparkling_red_ruby: there’s nothing to be embarrassed about, lou. clem’s a sweetheart

brooding: exactly :) she’s so nice! and really cool, too

King_Louis: ……….

King_Louis: ….so

King_Louis: even if you guys were HYPOTHETICALLY right

King_Louis: HYPOTHETICALLY

King_Louis: don’t say anything 2 her ok im warning you

brooding: I won’t, promise :)

sparkling_red_ruby: me neither, don’t worry

omargod: well uh, since I just found out, sure? haven’t even said hi to her but

omargod: good for you bro

King_Louis: aasim you’re being suspiciously quiet whatsup

King_Louis: are you gon rat me out

BowAndArrow: … I won’t. On one condition.

King_Louis: oh god

King_Louis: name it

BowAndArrow: Stop writing emojis and use actual words like real people.

King_Louis: *sad emoji* *sad emoji* *sad emoji*

BowAndArrow: _@sweet-p_ Hey, come online for a sec.

King_Louis: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AASIM YOU RAT ok ok I won’t ok I promise

BowAndArrow: Alright. We have a deal.

BowAndArrow: *evil emoji*

King_Louis:

King_Louis: dfghjhgfgh

King_Louis: hhhh I c,annot believe tjsis you..traitor..,,,

BowAndArrow: :)

 **sweet-p** _‘s status has changed to: online _  
**sweet-p** _has joined the chat_

sweet-p: hey, I got a notif, did something happen?

sweet-p: all I can see is louis calling Aasim a rat for some reason? what’s going on?

King_Louis: everything is fine don’t worry about it :-)!!!!!

sweet-p: …?

BowAndArrow: Hi, Clem. We were just introducing you (in your absence) to Omar, so he’d know your SN.

sweet-p: oh. okay

sweet-p: hi omar, nice to meet you :)

omargod: nice to meet you too, clementine!

omargod: well, I gotta go unpack my shit – see you guys later

omargod: sorry I couldn’t be online longer

sparkling_red_ruby: don’t worry bout it, it’s just nice to have you back ^^

brooding: later omar! :)

 **omargod** _has left the chat_  
**omargod** _‘s status has changed to: offline _

sparkling_red_ruby: I’ll best be off too; y’all play nice, now

sparkling_red_ruby: lookin at you, _@BowAndArrow_

BowAndArrow: Yes, ma’am.

sparkling_red_ruby: bye, y’all ^^

King_Louis: see you later, rubes

 **sparkling_red_ruby** _has left the chat_  
**sparkling_red_ruby** _‘s status has changed to: offline _

King_Louis: so its just us left huh _@brooding @BowAndArrow @sweet-p_?

brooding: seems so

BowAndArrow: Obviously.

King_Louis: no need to be snooty ‘sim, remember what mama ruby said

sweet-p: where’s violet? and mitch?

King_Louis: vi’s probably screaming at acrylics or smth

King_Louis: ((art class))

BowAndArrow: Mitch is still banned; since Marlon hasn’t come back, Violet’s taking full advantage of her powers as admin by… not using them.

King_Louis: which I as subadmin fully endorse

King_Louis: anyway, you guys wanna go Kick Some Zombie Ass?

sweet-p: sure!

sweet-p: wait I have another question first

brooding: whats up? :)

sweet-p: _@BowAndArrow_ why’d Louis call you a rat lol

King_Louis: NO REASON AT ALL just friends messing around haha

BowAndArrow: I have not-so-secret intel on him and I am not averse to spilling it.

King_Louis: DUDE?????????????YOU PROMISED???

BowAndArrow: But, since I did actually promise Louis I wouldn’t tell (for now), I can’t tell you what it is.

sweet-p: awwww damn

sweet-p: i wanted blackmail

King_Louis: w

King_Louis: what did I do to deserve this

King_Louis: clem ))))): I thought you liked me ))):

sweet-p: don’t worry, I do :)

 

Wait.

Hold the phone.

Louis leans back away from his monitor, fingers hovering still over the keyboard. Neither Aasim nor Brody seem to pay Clem’s comment any mind, which, okay, might be because they know his- his secret (ugh, that sounds so pre-school-ish). But to him, this is a Pretty Big Deal.

Does she. Mean that, like, seriously, or. Probably not, judging by the context and tone, but… Louis can’t help but hope (he’s such a mess, obsessing over her every word). But yeah, no. She means it as a friend. Yeah. They’re just teasing each other, like friends do. It’s fine.

Everything is great!

Returning to chat after having that minor freak-out, Louis finds that the other three have already opened a temporary chat and moved to start the Encounter. So, Louis adjusts his headphones and turns his mic on, and if he tells himself enough times that Things Are Fine, they will be.

They’re Engaging a group of Walkers just north of their established zone; they’d come a bit too close to their /Fishing_grounds for comfort and would have to be dealt with before they started doing damage. Louis is, of course, using Chairles as his weapon, but Clem must’ve bought a bow sometime recently since she’s using that instead of her blade. She looks… really good. Well, her character does. Louis doesn’t actually know if her character looks anything like she does in real life – some people design their avatars to look like they actually do, and some make them look pretty outlandish. Clem’s character looks pretty normal; beat up denim jacket, curly brown hair, and of course, the baseball cap. Nothing too out of the ordinary, so, if Clem actually looks like she does in the game… well.

She looks nice.

Louis isn’t _that_ distracted: he manages to knock a Walker’s head clean of their shoulders, and then the head hits another Walker and momentarily stuns them, which, okay – awesome. But he can’t deny that he’s still a bit out of it from his shit week and the very pretty laugh in his right ear.

 _“Nice one, Clem!”_ he hears from his left and sees Brody there, wielding her trusty spear (she looks so cool holy shit).

 _“Thanks, Brody”_ Clem replies, as she stabs a Walker up through the jaw, and damn. No shade at Brody but. Clem looks even cooler than she does.

Louis gulps. “What about me, y’all? I basically used that walker’s head like a baseball, why aren’t you singing my praises?”

 _“Very cool, Louis, we’re all very impressed”_ Aasim deadpans.

“Thanks dude, it really means a lot”

 _“To be fair, it_ was _pretty cool”_ Clem muses, and it sounds like she’s smiling _. “Good job, Louis”_

He’s going to die. He stammers out a _th-thanks_ and can pretty much hear Aasim smirking on his end, that little shit. It’s too bad Aasim is such a secretive bastard – Louis has no blackmail on him and so, cannot retaliate in fear of the consequences.

Doesn’t mean he won’t sabotage Aasim’s character back at the base, though.

 

Soon as the encounter is finished, and the return to overhead view, there’s a new notification on screen.  

 **xXx_VioletWay_xXx [admin]** _has added_ **Marlon420** _to the coalition ericson kidz!!  
_**xXx_VioletWay_xXx [admin]** _has added_ **Marlon420** _to the chat: ericson kidz!!-main_

 _[_ **xXx_VioletWay_xXx** _has stepped down from her position as *Leader and awarded the badge to_ **Marlon420** _]_

 _[_ **Marlon420** _has been made *Leader and [admin] of the ericson kidz!!-coalition]_

 

 ** chat: ** ericson kidz!!-main

 **Marlon420** _has joined the chat_

Marlon420: I’m back bitches

King_Louis: !!!!!!welcome back my man!!!!!!!!!

Marlon420: hey thanks vi for giving me admin back

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: no problem

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: being admin fuckin sucked so idc

King_Louis: and vi welcome back you 2 how was art class

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: great

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: I broke a palette in half and threw the pieces out the window

King_Louis: I’m so proud of you

brooding: welcome back marlon <3

BowAndArrow: Yeah. Good to see you again.

Marlon420: thanks yall (:

Marlon420: where’s everyone?

brooding: all offline, except for mitch

Marlon420: ?

King_Louis: he’s still banned from chat lmao

Marlon420: … vi

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: not sorry

 ** _[_ ** **m-b-itch _is no longer banned from chat:_** _ ericson kidz!!-main **]**_

 **m-b-itch** _has joined the chat_

m-b-itch: fuckin finally

Marlon420: sorry dude

Marlon420: anyway since I got a new character now I got the chance to change it up a little yall wanna see

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: why

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: we’ll see it in an encounter or smth who cares

King_Louis: I do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!show us dude

 **> Marlon420** _sent a picture in chat: ericson kidz!!-main_ [newchar.png]

King_Louis:

Marlon420: pretty good right

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: oh my god

 **BowAndArrow** _has left the chat_

m-b-itch: I can’t fuckinf, breahte

King_Louis: ..marlon

King_Louis: my guy, my dude

King_Louis: my friend and my brother in all but blood

King_Louis: you know I love you right

Marlon420: ya

King_Louis: so, I say this lovingly,

King_Louis: marlon

King_Louis: why thw fuck would you give your character a MULLET in the year of our lord 2k19

Marlon420: ? cause it looks dope?

m-b-itch: dude do you even have EYES it looks like a dead cat im going to pISS MYSELF

 ** _[_ ** **m-b-itch _has been banned from the chat for:_** _being an asshole AGAIN **]**_

Marlon420: yall are blind it looks sick

brooding: I hope you didn’t pay actual money for that, marlon

Marlon420: …

brooding: Jesus Christ

Marlon420: …gtg 

 **Marlon420** _has left the chat_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((dw marlon allowed mitch back in chat again its all good))  
> for some reason aasim being lawful evil/true neutral is so gotdamn hilarious to me i cant help it im so sorry
> 
> quick question: is the formatting of this okay? is it like, readable and clear, or do i have to change it? thanks  
> also i am trying my darndest to move the plot forward and then my shit brain is like "HeHe make Funy joke" and it just sorta?does whatever it wants so sorrie its moving kind of slow but i hope yall enjoy it anyway  
> (bonus: the contraction from the second chapter that marlon uses - y'all'll'nt've'd's - means "you all will not have had us" and is the longest contraction i could find idk if its correct though cause i am very much not southern but in fact swedish anyway yeet)


	6. Tip #21: Stones can be used to distract both the dead and the other players.

**whisperer_j** _is requesting to speak with the_ ericson kidz!!-coalition

 

 ** chat: ** ericson kidz!!-main

BowAndArrow: Does anyone here know @whisperer_j or?

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: no

King_Louis: nopee

m-b-itch: no clue

BowAndArrow: Any idea why they’re here?

Marlon420: maybe they want to join or smth

King_Louis: we’re getting popular babes

m-b-itch: could be delta

sparkling_red_ruby: but then they’d have the *xDelta* name, wouldn’t they?

BowAndArrow: Well, we don’t have Ericson in our names, do we?

King_Louis: very good point Aasim lets change that

 **King_Louis** _has changed their screen name to:_ **Ericson_Louis**

Ericson_Louis: hm actually you know what that’s a terrible idea Aasim that sounds Awful why would you ever suggest that

 **Ericson_Louis** _has changed their screen name to:_ **King_Louis**

BowAndArrow: Just. Why.

King_Louis: :-*

BowAndArrow: Die.

sweet-p: why don’t we just accept their request then? see what they have to say?

Marlon420: any objections?

sparkling_red_ruby: not on my part

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: I guess

BowAndArrow: No.

Marlon420: cool

Marlon420: louis n mitch you were too slow so majority wins

m-b-itch: I don’t think that’s how a democracy works

Marlon420: who said this was a democracy

 

 **Marlon420 [admin]** _has accepted_ **whisperer_j** _‘s request_

 

whisperer_j: Hello.

whisperer_j: I Have Come With A Warning.

King_Louis: dude

King_Louis: what are you a serial killer or something

whisperer_j: You Do Not Want To Know.

King_Louis: that is absolutely terrifying go on

Marlon420: what dyou mean warning?

whisperer_j: You Have Been Battling The Delta For This Area. Correct?

BowAndArrow: Yes, that’s right.

whisperer_j: They Are Preparing For An Attack. I Suggest You Enforce Your Defences. Or You Will Be Obliterated By Their Superior Power.

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: superior? please.

whisperer_j: You Do Not Know What They Are Capable Of.

sweet-p: and you do? How so?

whisperer_j: Again. You Do Not Want To Know. Trust Me.

 **whisperer_j** _has sent the ericson kidz!!-coalition a gift: (1) +apple_  
**whisperer_j** _has ended the conversation_

 

 ** chat: ** ericson kidz!!-main

King_Louis: okay was anyone else absolutely freaked out by that guy or

m-b-itch: nah, not just you

m-b-itch: I have no idea how they managed to exude that sheer amount of terrifying power but they did

m-b-itch: pretty impressed actually

King_Louis: and also why’d they give us one (1) apple??????

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: idk but someone that dedicated to typing Like This has to be hiding something

Marlon420: does anyone actually want to focus on the important part of that (admittedly terrifying) conversation?

BowAndArrow: I mean, I appreciate the heads up. But it also makes me suspicious as hell.

Marlon420: yea

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: well I dunno about you guys but I’m not afraid of some rando just because they capitalize everything

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: creeped out? yes. terrified? no. ready to fight them? absolutely.

King_Louis: HELL YEA ((pretend there’s gun and knife emojis here cause Aasim won’t LET ME))

sparkling_red_ruby: why’d they warn us? whose side are they on, if they have intel on Delta?

Marlon420: good point

sweet-p: I dunno. I think they seemed nice.

King_Louis: ???????????????? how???

sweet-p: why not?

King_Louis: cause WHO has the time to capitalize Every Letter Like This

King_Louis: see??? that took me like, five minutes!!

sweet-p: But they DID give us an apple. That’s nice.

King_Louis: I

King_Louis: clem youre great but I also really dont understand you sometimes

sweet-p: aw really? thank you :)

King_Louis: not a compliment but youre welcome nontheless

Marlon420: guys, I cant find _@whisperer_j_ anywhere on the map

BowAndArrow: maybe they have undetectability as well?

sparkling_red_ruby: like the delta?

Marlon420: no, then they’d still show up…

m-b-itch: they could have the assimilation trait

sparkling_red_ruby: isn’t that super hard to get, though?

m-b-itch: it is but it wipes you clean off the map n keeps walkers from attacking you if you don’t initiate it

m-b-itch: cool, but super expensive and like you said, hard to get

King_Louis: damn. experienced, super creepy player at our front door?? don’t like that

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: still ready to fight them for you louis

King_Louis: that was oddly sweet vi thank you

King_Louis: I always knew you loved me, deep deep down <33333

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: ew. no. I take it back. yikes.

King_Louis: let me LOVE YOU violet <333333333333

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: louis I can and will send pics of your weeaboo phrase if you keep this up

King_Louis: YOU WOULN’T

King_Louis: also its not like I had one but if I did then YOU WOULDN’T

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: I would

Marlon420: kids. just. one minute. thank you.

Marlon420: I feel like a soccer mom, all I need is a Toyota and a bad haircut

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: uhhhh your character already has that covered dw

Marlon420: what dyou mean

Marlon420: you cant have cars in this game

m-b-itch: marlon: 1 violet: 0

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: shut it mitch

sparkling_red_ruby: so what do we do?

sweet-p: if we can find him, we should thank him, right?

sweet-p: if what he’s saying is true, then he gave us info about an upcoming attack

sparkling_red_ruby: that’s true…

Marlon420: idk if I believe that but its as good a time as any to spend some points on defense, or what d’y’all say

King_Louis: there you go speaking cowboy again

King_Louis: but I agree, we could use upgrading our traps and shit

sparkling_red_ruby: and if they do attack, then we’ll be prepared!

Marlon420: right

Marlon420: who wants to upgrade what?

m-b-itch: I call dibs on bombs

sparkling_red_ruby: I have enough to buy some barbed wire to upgrade the walls ^^

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: idk, the gates could use some work so ill do that I guess

sweet-p: I’ve racked up quite a lot of points so I’ll go for the collective +strategy and +defense perks, if that’s okay?

Marlon420: great! ill get more arrows and ammo and stuff

Marlon420: Aasim, Louis?

King_Louis: uhhh traps maybe? idk I don’t really have a lot of points left after the +lookout perks….

BowAndArrow: I’ll send some points your way. That way, we can afford the brick traps.

King_Louis: :D!!thanks dude!!!

King_Louis: also……can I write out emojis again…….<3?

BowAndArrow: No.

King_Louis: ):

Marlon420: cool, it’s settled then

Marlon420: I’ll update brody on the situation

Marlon420: dont shoot me this time yall

sweet-p: I won’t, promise lol

Marlon420: peace out

 **Marlon420** _‘s status has changed to: resting_

m-b-itch: alright then gtg make some bombs

 **m-b-itch** _‘s status has changed to: crafting_

King_Louis: hey!!!rude!!

King_Louis: I was just about to suggest…….we revive game night (;

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: really lou?

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: we actually have a mission in the first time in forever and u want to play games

King_Louis: yes? whats your point

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: … alright, im in

sweet-p: me too, sounds fun!

King_Louis: Aasim?

King_Louis: I promise I wont ask anything embarrassing this time hehe

BowAndArrow: Fine, count me in.

sparkling_red_ruby: me too! ^^

King_Louis: alright!!!!!

sweet-p: so whats the game?

King_Louis: well its not really that complicated since its just via chat

King_Louis: basically a cross between truth or dare and 20 questions

King_Louis: so everyone gets a number between

King_Louis: how many are we tonight?

BowAndArrow: You, Violet, Clem, Ruby, and me. So five.

King_Louis: wait @m-b-itch @Marlon420: wanna join?

 **Marlon420** _‘s status has changed to: active_

Marlon420: sure why not

m-b-itch: nah

 **m-b-itch** _has left the chat_

BowAndArrow: Well, then we’re six.

King_Louis: so yeah

King_Louis: everyone gets a number between one and six

King_Louis: random number generator picks a number – that’s the “winner” so to speak

King_Louis: then they can ask anyone they want a question/a truth/or dare them to do something

King_Louis: which ofc is harder bc we cant see the person but whatever

King_Louis: ohh and yea we do it w voice or outloud or however u say so u cant cheat

sweet-p: alright, cool

sweet-p: then I guess I’m number 1

King_Louis: 2!!

xXx_VioletWay_xXx: 3

BowAndArrow: Four.

sparkling_red_ruby: 5 ^^

Marlon420: and six

King_Louis: alright lads boot up your headphones or whatever and lets go!!!!

 

“Everyone ready?”

A chorus of yes-es echo out of Louis’ left ear as he readies himself, shifting to a more comfortable position and unlocking his phone.

“Siri, give me a random number between one and six”

_“Three”_

“Alright, Violet, you win” Louis says, this time to the gang. “Who’s your victim this time?”

 _“Victory Violet”_ Vi hums, sounding smug even if it’s really just a game of chance. _“Alright… I’ll ask Clem: Truth or dare?”_

Clem laughs _. “Truth. Although saying that, I feel like I might regret it”_

_“Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on ya’. Greatest irrational fear?”_

_“Ugh, definitely the ocean”_ Clem makes a noise like she’s shuddering, and it really is ridiculous how cute Louis thinks it sounds. _“Like, what’s down there? I could be swimming above a whale, or, I don’t know, a sunken submarine full of torpedoes for all I know. Freaks me out”_

_“Fair enough”_

Time for round two. This time, Clem gets a turn.

 _“Can I ask everyone something? Or is that, like, against the rules?”_ Clem hums, after a few moments of quiet.

“Nah, go ahead” Louis says (it’s not like anyone can stop him, he’s in control of the game).

_“Alright… then, where are you all from? I know Lou is from DC and Violet’s from Montana, but I don’t know anyone else”_

Louis almost doesn’t hear the end of her question, mind too caught up on the fact that SHE CALLED HIM LOU. (God he’s pathetic.)

“ _I’m from California”_ Aasim is the first to reply. _“Born and raised in San Francisco, pretty much”_

Marlon’s next. _“And I’m from Virginia. Unfortunately, not West, but that doesn’t deter Louis in the slightest”_

“Guilty as charged” Louis teases, playing up the southern accent, and smiling when it makes Clem laugh.

 _“Well, it’s a good song”_ Clem says, still laughing, and letting her natural Georgia tone shine through.

 _“Me, I’m from Tuscaloosa, Alabama”_ And, well, Ruby doesn’t need to play up anything – a true southern belle, she is. _“And since they ain’t here, I’ll speak for them, too: Brody’s from Maine, and Mitch’s from North Carolina, but he moved to New York a few years ago so his accent’s all messed up”_

 _“Yeah it… kinda is”_ Clem hums. _“I was trying to figure out where you all where from, but apparently I wasn’t very good at it”_

_“Ah, really? Where’d ya’ think he was from?”_

_“Honestly, I guessed Pennsylvania”_

“Well, it wasn’t too far off”

_“I got Aasim right, though. And Ruby”_

_“Ruby is probably the easiest one to guess out of all of us”_ Marlon laughs.

_“Probably had an easier time with it too, considering I’m from Georgia”_

“ _That’s fair”_

“This is great, y’all! We’re laughing, we’re bonding… Anyway, time for round three”

A couple of turns pass, and Louis doesn’t win once. Unfair. Aasim does, though, and when he does, he sounds so unbearably smug that Louis half believes Aasim’ll dare him to ask Clem out or something. But luckily for Louis, Aasim isn’t that evil (or, he has manners and realizes how creepy and douchey that’d be), so he goes for Violet instead.

Only to throw Louis under the bus, of course, by asking if he really did have a weeaboo-phase. (He totally didn’t. Violet was lying.)

Ruby has a turn, and dares Marlon to only talk in contractions for the next five minutes, which has Louis (and the rest of the chat) in stitches (but also not really understanding a word he says). Only Clem and Ruby herself seem to understand most of it, with Louis, Violet and Aasim getting the short end of the stick. As retaliation, Marlon then dares Ruby to try and talk with a New York accent, which she fails spectacularly at.

All around, it’s a good time.

And finally, Louis wins a turn.

“About time!” he says, when Siri finally reads out _number two._ “I don’t think I’ve ever been this unlucky during one of these game nights, it’s unfair”

 _“Boo-hoo, poor you”_ Violet replies, completely and utterly deadpan. Rude.

Anyway, what should he ask? Or, dare? And who? Louis knows a lot about all of these people – even if they’ve never met in real life (with the exception of Marlon and Violet, that once time she flew down) they have gotten to know each other really well over the past years. There really is only one person that doesn’t fit that formula: Clem. But what could he ask, then?

Maybe… there’s a workaround. One that could also be enlightening regarding the others in the gang.

 _“What’s up, Lou?”_ Marlon asks, tinny through Louis’ headphones _. “You’re awfully quiet”_

 _“Especially for being Louis”_ What’s with Aasim being so rude today?

“Shut up” Louis bites back, more a reflex at this point. “I was thinking, and I know y’all can’t relate, but I actually do that a fair amount”

_“Sassy”_

“So… this is a question for all of you. If, let’s say, this whole zombie apocalypse thing was real and happening… What’s the one thing y’all would miss the most about this world?”

There’s a moment of silence, and oh god, was that too sappy? He’s genuinely curious, c’mon – it’s an interesting moral question!

 _“Chicken nuggets”_ Violet says, in that voice that means she’s smirking.

“Thank you, Violet, for your very serious addition to what was intended as a philosophical discussion”

 _“Uhm, I guess my horses?”_ Ruby sounds uncertain, but more serious than Vi. _“It’d suck to have to leave them, or the farm… But I guess a farm with horses is a good place to be in, in an apocalypse, so I don’t know”_

 _“I think… Books. Learning”_ Aasim is next up, with a pretty expected answer. _”Not a lot of opportunity for university during the end of the world”_

“Well, you wouldn’t need it, would you?”

_“Exactly what I said, didn’t you listen?”_

_“My family”_ Marlon interjects, and Louis promptly stops himself from taking Aasim’s bait. _“My little sister”_

Clem clears her throat gently before speaking up as well. _“Same, for me. My brother, I think. But I guess that’s not really a “thing” you’d miss? Since it’s a person, y’know…”_

“Nah, totally acceptable” Louis replies. There’s a beat of pretty heavy silence, before Violet breaks it.

_“… now I feel like shit for saying chicken nuggets”_

Marlon and Clem laugh in unison, one in each of Louis’ ears.

_“Don’t sweat it, Vi”_

_“What about you, Louis?”_ Clem says gently.

“I… I’d like to say the same, but-“ Nope, let’s not go there. “Music? Playing piano, singing… I’d go crazy without that”

_“Well, if there’s ever a zombie apocalypse, make sure to hide out somewhere that has a keyboard”_

“Will do, Aasim” Louis yawns, stretches, and glances at the clock. “And on that touching-sorta note, I think that’s a good place to call it”

 _“Agreed”_ Ruby yawns on her side, as well. _“I have to get up early tomorrow, anyway”_

 _“Alright then. Goodnight losers”_ Violet says, surprisingly affectionate.

_"I 'll be off too. Night"_

**sparkling_red_ruby**   _and_ **BowAndArrow** _have left the chat_

 **sparkling_red_ruby**  ‘s _and_   **BowAndArrow** ‘s _statuses have changed to: offline_

_"See ya'"_

**Marlon420** _has left the chat_

 **Marlon420** _'s status has changed to: offline_

“Goodnight... whoever's left. See you later”

 _“… Violet?”_ Clem stage whispers, just as Louis is about to log off, and oh?

_“Uh, yeah?”_

_“Do you really have pictures of Louis in his weeaboo phase?”_

Oh no.

“Excuse me!” Louis interjects hurriedly, instinctively leaning in closer to the screen as if to physically restrain Violet from doing what she’s absolutely about to do. “She doesn’t, because those do not exist, because I never had one!”

 _“I’ll PM you some”_ Violet replies, completely unbothered. _“They’re pretty hilarious”_

_“I bet”_

And then both Clem and Violet are laughing, or actually more like giggling, and Louis really needs better friends.

“This is- that’s an invasion of privacy, Violet” he whines, only half-joking. He really doesn’t want Clem to see those photos, because yes, they exist, fine, and they’re… bad. Not good. And definitely not very attractive.

_“Oh, I know. Talk to you later, Louis, Clem”_

**xXx_VioletWay_xXx**  h _ _as left the chat__

 **xXx_VioletWay_xXx** _‘s status has changed to: offline_

…That little shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uuuuuhhhhh im not happy with the ending but here it is yall sorry for the wait  
> i started three new classes (?) this week and ive been dyin
> 
> notes i guess?  
> \- ruby is from tuscaloosa bc it's mentioned in "waiting around to die" i thought that was fun (also her being from alabama works sorta because her accent is rotic unlike for example a lot of texan accents haha linguistics)  
> \- mitch is too fucking chaotic to be in a game like they're playing so i yeeted him  
> \- and sorry omar has no personality/barely shows up he doesn't in the game either so its ok
> 
> another thing: PLEASE if yall have requests or ideas throw them at me because i always need new fun things to mix up the ol' chat fic format!
> 
> that's all folks thanks for reading and i love yall bye x


	7. Tip #33: When making your character, consider that their appearance is permanent.

When Louis wakes up the next day, the first thing he does (after petting Marley the cat, who has curled up in a ball near his feet) is fumble blindly for his glasses and then, for his phone.

He has some very important business to tend to.

 

 **You:** Violet

 **You:** Violet

 **You:** Violet

 **You:** Violet

 **You:** violent

 **You:** Violet*

 **You:** Violet

 **You:** Violet

 **You:** viltentnt

 **You:** so that’s how much keysmashing it took to render your name unrecognizable

 **You:** Violet

 _Vi <33:_ what in the fuck

 **You:** o wow you actually responded

_Vi <33: why are you texting me_

_Vi <33: texting is for old ppl n my mom_

_Vi <33: what do you want_

**You:** did you send those picz to clem yet ):

 **You:** please tell me no

_Vi <33: what if I did_

**You:** !!!!!!!!!!!!!you ddint

 **You:** please

_Vi <33: ok fine I didn’t_

_Vi <33: y do u care so much anyway they’re embarrassing sure but who doesn’t have embarrassing photos of themselves_

_Vi <33: its not a big deal except for th fact that they r objectively fucking hilarious_

**You:** ,honestly youre right but

 **You:** I don’t want clem’s first look @ me to be me in a Naruto headband

_Vi <33: r u serious_

**You:** yes?? why wouldn’t I be that’s a p bad first face impression

_Vi <33: no I mean_

_Vi <33: she doesn’t know what u look like_

**You:** ……no?

_Vi <33: clem n I followed each other on p much every social media within a week of knowing each other whats wrong w u_

**You:** you DID ??

_Vi <33: yea_

_Vi <33: maybe she just doesn’t like u_

**You:** vi I know youre just being you but that is a very real concern for me

_Vi <33: sorry_

_Vi <33: her Instagram is @little_orange _

_Vi <33: just say u found her thru mine if it gets weird _

**You:** does this mean you wont send the pics

_Vi <33: I’ll wait until she follows u back so u know she’s seen ur face_

_Vi <33: after that no promises_

**You:** that’s fair

 **You:** love you vi

_Vi <33: eugh_

**You:** <333

 

Louis once attempted to have a theme on his Instagram – artsy shots of sheets of music and coffee and shit, but it didn’t really work out. Now, he just posts whatever crap comes to mind. Highlights include a blurry shot of a sock on the ground outside the coffee shop with the caption “yeah”. And besides, regardless of what he posts, Violet has a habit of just commenting “dislike” on everything. So needless to say, his feed is… a bit of a mess.

Luckily for Louis, the latest picture of him (uploaded three weeks ago) is at least… sort of stylish. So, if Clem checks his account to see who it is, it’ll be a good first impression. Right? Maybe? He doesn’t _think_ he looks hideous. He doesn’t look downright evil either or whatever, so, it should be fine.

Alright, its time. Louis types in _little_orange_ , and sure enough, an account appears that is _followed by v.1olent and brody_p._ Must be it. However, the account is private, so Louis requests to follow them (after only about three minutes of anguished hesitation and mulling over what boundaries he is or isn’t crossing). Then, he calmly puts his phone away (aka, hides it underneath the stacks of books next to his bed) and stretches (disturbing the cat, who looks at him with the most affronted look Louis has ever seen on a feline).

He manages to stay away from his phone for about, say, ten seconds, before anxiously checking if his request has been accepted.

It hasn’t. Shocker.

“Marley” When in doubt, pout at your (aunt’s) cat. “Marley. Hey. Marley. You like me, right?”

Marley blinks once, in a _are you kidding me_ -sort of way, before rolling over so his back is facing Louis instead. Rude.

“Geoff wouldn’t treat me like this”

No response. Which is understandable, considering Marley doesn’t know Geoff; if he did, he might’ve eaten the poor turtle. So. Also – RIP Geoff.

Suddenly his phone lights up, and Louis almost falls over where he’s just calmly sitting on the bed (what? it happens!) in the scramble to reach it. Four notifications glare back from the too-bright screen:

 **Instagram**  
_You request to follow user @little_orange has been accepted!_

 **Instagram**  
_User @little_orange is now following you!_ (Vaguely threatening wording, but also: _nice_ )

 **iMessage  
** _auntie!!!: could you buy some extra eggs and salad please, making carbonara 2morrow x_

 **Snapchat**  
_Snap from marloonytunes_

  
In an effort to buy himself some time to panic Louis first replies to his aunt ( _yes ofcourse !_ ), and then opens the snap from Marlon. It’s a picture of Rosie, which is admittedly adorable, but it doesn’t provide long-term distraction. (Louis sends back a zoomed in picture of Marley, aww-ing as he does so.)

Okay. Time to bite the bullet.

 

 

… her character does not do her justice.

As superficial as it is, that’s Louis’ first thought. He knows she’s intelligent and compassionate and witty and sharp, and obviously that’s more important, but she’s also very pretty. Her two latest posts aren’t of her – it’s a sunset over what looks like a baseball court, and an artsy shot of a busted walkie-talkie covered in fading stickers – but the third is her. It has to be, even if isn’t a selfie.

She’s standing in front of a solid yellow brick wall, looking vaguely annoyed but bemused, tendrils of hair curling on her forehead and around her ears. The captions reads: _“gabe saw this wall and called it “neat” before forcing me in front of it. 1.who says neat in 2019 2.stand in front of it yourself weirdo”_  


**_Liked by v.1olent, brody_p and 52 others_ ** **  
Show comments (14)**

 _gabriel.g.arcia:_ just because you aren’t a visionary artist doesn’t make it weird :^/  
_> little_orange:_ doesn’t make it “neat” either :/  
_> gabriel.g.arcia:_ ::^^//

 _brody_p:_ gorgeous!!  
_> little_orange:_ thanks brody!

 _v.1olent:_ like  
_> little_orange:_ you know theres a button for that right  
_> v.1olent: _ yea  
_> little_orange:_ ? thanks anyway tho 

 

Just as Louis is debating whether or not to _like_ the picture (and obviously the other two latest ones as to not be weird), there’s a new notif, this time in the app itself.

Clem just liked his latest photo. That _has_ to be a sign.

 

 

That afternoon, after agonizing over Tchaikovsky for about two hours, Louis goes shopping for his aunt (buying eggs, cream, salad, milk, chips and toothpaste, hell yeah), gets dinner from a very quiet guy at a Korean food truck, gets scared by a pigeon, and hops on the bus back home. Once there he sets up camp with Netflix, a somewhat reluctant Marley, and his recently acquired dinner and chips. Saturday night alone? No problem.

Louis is about half an hour into a very interesting documentary on speech rehabilitation, when his phone starts buzzing, _again_.

 

 **Snapchat**  
_Snap from marloonytunes_

 **Snapchat**  
_Snap from marloonytunes_

 **Snapchat**  
_Snap from marloonytunes_

 **Snapchat**  
_Snap from marloonytunes_

 **Snapchat**  
_Snap from marloonytunes_

 

The hell?

The first one he opens is fairly normal; an out of focus picture of Marlon’s monitor, displaying _Zombie Survival 2012_ – more specifically, the _ericson kidz!!-_ base. What’s not normal is the red box in the upper right corner, which reads:

 _[The_ **ericson kidz!!-** coalition is being attacked by the **Delta** -coalition! Gather your forces to defend your base.]  


Okay, that’s… fairly alarming.

The next few snaps are just increasingly blurry shots with the caption varying from a simple “ **ffuck k** ” in big rainbow text, to “ **louis get online or i will expose ur Myspace acc** ”. Luckily, Louis has already finished his bibimbap, so he grabs his chips, almost trips over the rug, and hurries to his computer to join.

 

 **chat:** ericson kidz!!-main  


**King_Louis** ‘s _status has changed to: online_  
**King_Louis** _has joined the chat_

King_Louis: what in the,fuck is goin on

Marlon420: about time

Marlon420: cant u see we’re being attacked

Marlon420: boot up bitch

 

Okay, fair. As soon as he came online the red attack-alert also popped up on Louis’s screen, so. Also, he has eyes.

The camera keeps jumping around to capture important events taking place, but the general gist of the carnage is still pretty clear. There are about five or six dots displaying the infuriating _xDelta_ -screen names; Louis can see _xDelta_Abel_ in the admin building, together with _xDelta_Yonatan_ and _xDelta_Sullene_ , both of whom he has never even heard of. Aasim and Clem are there with them, setting off traps. Ruby and Violet are in the courtyard area, seemingly engaged in one-on-one encounters with other members of the Delta, so Louis can’t interfere there. He can’t see Marlon, Brody, Omar or Mitch, but they must be around somewhere. The camera is still jumping back and forth between the admin building and the courtyard, where the main action seems to be, so it’s hard to catch everyone’s names moving about. From the looks of it, Clementine and _xDelta_Abel_ have entered into a one-on-one encounter, while Aasim is escaping the main building with _xDelta_Sullene_ hot on his heels ( _xDelta_Yonatan_ seems to be down for the count).

Alright then. Louis enters the _CAE_ (collective attack encounter), checks that he still has his weapon equipped and ready to go, and waits while the perspective shifts into first person. His first thought is, _okay, who set the gates on fire?_ His second though is, _holy shit Clem and that guy just fell down from the balcony_

That fall will probably knock them both out for about ten seconds before they can rejoin the fight, but another Delta-member – with the name _xDelta_Lily*Leader_ hovering above their character – doesn’t waste any time in getting way too close for Louis’ liking. They march straight up to Clem and readies their rifle (holy shit, a rifle is _expensive_ in this game), and points it right at her forehead, just as Clem (‘s character) wakes up again.

Clem’s stats will be down – she’ll have lost a lot of health in that fall – while this “Lily” looks almost unharmed. And since losing your character straight up sucks (as evident by Marlon’s recent death), Louis doesn’t really think before charging into a one-on-one encounter with them.

Not one second too soon, either. Just as he barrels into “Lily”, Louis sees _xDelta_Abel_ move again, going for Clementine get again. Then, the screen shifts once more – into One-on one Encounter mode. Meaning, he has to smash the shit out of some buttons to try to punch “Lily” in the face. Which- isn’t going great.

“Lily”, as expected by them looking relatively unharmed and having the *Leader badge, wins the encounter pretty quickly, despite Louis having the upper hand from the start. All Louis can really do is make sure that they stay down on the ground, by repeatedly pressing enter+shift until his fingers hurt. And that only works for like, ten seconds, before “Lily” shoves his character away and kicks him in the stomach, ending the encounter. Cool, okay, that was awful. Seems like Clem got _xDelta_Abel_ under control though – that character is knocked out cold on the ground. Nice.

Louis doesn’t get much more than a second to catch his breath (both metaphorically and physically, since that was some adrenaline rush right there) before he’s tackled from behind by another Delta-assbag – and has to fend of them instead. _xDelta_Dorian_ is almost as bad as Lily, and they also had the element of surprise, so there’s a very real chance that Louis is utterly and royally screwed.

He’s just started thinking of potential new character designs when _xDelta_Dorian_ suddenly falls to the ground – an arrow sticking out of their shoulder. Louis wastes no time hauling ass – he’s getting the fuck out of there. Seems he’s not the only one with that idea.

 _xDelta_Lily*Leader_ stands in front of the gates, gesturing presumably towards the rest of her group to leave the base and subsequently, the encounter. Louis cowers behind a barricade as the rest of the Delta come rushing towards the gates, shooting at stray walkers that’ve been attracted by the noise. Soon enough, the base is quiet again. With all the walkers taken care of and the attackers gone, the only thing left to do is put out the fires that the Delta (?) started.

It’s around this time that Louis realizes he never joined the voice chat. Oops. He does so (allowing himself a moment to catch his breath, again, and eat a chip) and is immediately assaulted by a cacophony of voices.

 _“-ed in the neck, what the fuck-“_ Who’s that, Mitch?

 _“-looks like that’s the last of it-“_ Marlon?

 _“For god’s sake, someone help me with this!”_ That’s definitely Ruby, anyway.

“Hey, sorry everyone, how’re y’all doing?”

 _“Could be better”_ Violet mutters, sounding bitter. _“I’m knocked out. Ruby’s trying to fix me up”_

 _“Well, you’re lucky”_ If Violet sounded bitter, Mitch sounds positively murderous. _“I got stabbed within two fucking minutes of the battle starting, so I’m fucking dead. Fuck”_

Ouch.

_“I got shot, so I haven’t been much of a help. Sorry”_

_“No worries, Omar”_ Ruby pipes up. _“I’ll get to you in a minute, alright?”_

_“Thanks”_

_“I’m also knocked out. But at least they didn’t kill me. Currently stuck in the main building with the… dead Delta guy. Eugh”_ Aasim doesn’t sound quite as put together as usual, so maybe he struggled a bit too for once. Good – his ego could use some deflating.

 _“Brody didn’t join, so besides Clem, we’re all accounted for”_ Marlon says, as his character walks out from behind a barricade, bow in hand.

 _“I’m here”_ Speak of the, uh, Clementine, and she shall appear. _“That was intense”_

“It was. Hey, were you the one that shot… however it was that was attacking me?”

_“Yeah”_

“Thanks”

 _“Don’t sweat it”_ Clementine sounds like she’s smiling, and Louis is positively giddy, which is- not exactly what you’d expect after an Encounter of that caliber. Then again, maybe it’s the adrenaline (he doubts it, though).

 _“Guess we owe that whisperer-guy thanks”_ Ruby says, as she stands up from where Violet’s knocked out, helping her up.

“Guess we do”

_“I don’t think we need to wait for long”_

_“What d’you mean, Marlon?”_

_“Look outside the gates”_

Sure enough, when Louis turns towards the gate, there’s an ominous as fuck figure just outside them. It’s still nighttime in the game so he can’t really see them properly, but he sees the glowing letters above their head spelling out _whisperer_j_. That’s fine – that’s not what’s ominous.

What’s ominous is that the person is covered seemingly from head to toe in walker skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhhhhhhh what the Heck is up my dudes ? sorry for disappearing for literally almost three months haha :/ but i've been busy getting an apartment (!!!) and having exams and fuckin,finding a job (???) and signing INSURANCE=????? what  
> those are not Excuses but Explanations alright im still sorry also considering this chapter was 80% done like, a month ago oops
> 
> also? episode four? wrecked me it was Very Good except i had the ending spoiled for me :/ what did yall think of it..did u enjoy it
> 
> anyways i'll try to update sooner this time, i Think i have a good idea of where this is going and where its ending so i'm aiming at maybe? 10-12 chapters depending? thank yall for reading and waiting xx


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